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Funding a dementia friendly home reno

The onset of dementia doesn’t necessarily mean that people have to stop living on their own.

People with Alzheimer’s can, with assistance and modifications to their home, live independently for years.

Installing handrails and converting a bathtub to a walk-in shower,replacing doorknobs with lever handles, or tile flooring with a non-slip alternative,for example, can sometimes be all that’s needed.

Costs for those retrofits can add up and many seniors can’t afford them. But most provinces have programs in place to help offset those expenses.

Many of those agencies also provide non-taxable grants and loans to qualified caregivers who want to move a loved one into their own home, but whose home needs renovations to accommodate that loved one safely.

There’s even cash to help construct secondary suites and extensions to your home, as long as that new space will be used to house a disabled senior.

Generally, the money is available to low-income seniors (the definition of which varies from province to province) or their caregivers. An application is required (available online or by calling the overseeing office); it needs to be reviewed and approved before determining if you qualify, and, if you do, for how much.

Some programs have set budgets and once those budgets are spent, the program closes for that fiscal year; the programs can also be cut or closed without notice.

Translation: apply early and don’t commit to any contractor before finding out if you will get any money from the government.

The following list includes programs province by province that might help you or your family member secure funding to convert personal space into a more dementia-friendly home.

British Columbia

British Columbia Home Adaptations for Independence

Who’s eligible: Low-income seniors and people with disabilities; homeowners and renters both qualify.

Benefit: Up to $20,000 per home.

What it can be used for: Permanent adaptations to a home. A walk-in shower and grab bars, yes; a walker, probably not.

Alberta

Residential Access Modification program

Who’s eligible: Alberta residents who are wheelchair users.

Benefit: Up to $5,000.

What it can be used for: Home modifications that help with access into or throughout your home. Money is available for both homeowners and renters who have permission from their landlord to modify their apartment.

Ontario

No specific grants we could find at time of writing. However, Ontario does offer a tax credit program. It’s not a grant: You don’t get a lump sum from the government. Instead these are non-refundable tax credits which allow you to reduce any taxes owing, but don’t pay a refund.

Ontario Healthy Homes Renovation Tax Credit

You can claim this tax credit when you modify your home to improve safety and accessibility, if you share that home with any person aged 65 or older. The credit is not means tested; anyone can claim it as long as they are a senior or living with someone who is a senior.

Here’s how it works: You can claim up to $10,000 in modification expenses for any tax year. The amount you get back [as a credit] is 15 percent of those expenses, so a maximum of $1,500 a year. There is no life-time cap: you can claim this credit in any year that you made these kinds of renovations.

You make the purchase, and just keep your receipts. You declare the deduction on your income tax for the year in which those purchases were made.

What it can be used for: Large expenses (like bathroom renovations, wheelchair/walker ramps and stair lifts), as well as smaller ones (such as relocating light switches, installing extra light fixtures, hands-free taps, or touch-and-release cupboard drawers in a kitchen, etc.).

Quebec

Residential Adaptation Assistance Program

Who’s eligible: People with disabilities that interfere with their everyday functioning and independence. A report from an occupational therapist is required, to confirm a “significant and persistent” disability, and that home renovations are needed to accommodate that.

Benefit: Up to $16,000.

What it can be used for: To improve access into and throughout a home. For example: installing ramps, creating larger doorways and remodeling bathrooms.

New Brunswick

Housing assistance for persons with disabilities

Who’s eligible: New Brunswick homeowners modifying their home so it can be occupied by someone with disabilities—either themselves or another person with some impairment that stops them from performing activities in a range considered “normal.”

Benefit: A forgivable loan up to $24,000.

What it can be used for: Creation of a secondary/garden suite or an extension of an existing dwelling.

Home Adaptations for Seniors’ Independence

Who’s eligible: Low-income seniors, 65 years or older, who have difficulty with daily living.

Benefit: Up to $3,500 for minor repairs to make living independently easier.

What the money can be used for: Accessible storage and workspaces (pullout drawers, lever handles and pull-down cabinets in the kitchen, for example), handrails on stairways and through halls, replacing doorknobs with levers.